Apparatus for burning beard of seed

ABSTRACT

Device for trimming aristate seeds comprising a vertical spout wherein the seeds to be trimmed travel by gravity counter to a light air flow passing through one of the alveolate plates of a conveyer. In the flow-orientated position, the seeds are housed in one of the alveoli of the plate to be presented in this position to a trimming station comprised for example of a horizontal gas ramp positioned transversally to the direction in which the conveyer is translated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a novel device for trimming grains andseeds, so-called "aristate" grains and seeds because their caryopsisesextend in an awn, such as the grain or seed of the grass of the genusbromus (bromus catharticus). It is said that such grains or seeds aredifficult to sow by means of a machine as their awns intermingle andprevent them from flowing steadily into the channels of the device. Theresult is an irregular seed-bed. In some areas there is little or noseed whereas in other places there is too much seed. Consequently theuse of seed per hectare is out of proportion. The efficiency could bedoubled.

In order to remedy the abnormal use of seed it has been suggested totrim the seeds beforehand, either by hurling them vigorously against arough surface or by threshing them with a flail (such as in German Pat.No. 322512). Such methods are not acceptable for certain species whichare too fragile to stand up to such a treatment without being damaged.

The obvious thought is to cut or to singe the awns but in order toprevent the seeds from being damaged during the operation it is not onlynecessary to keep them upright so as to cut them correctly but also toprotect them against destruction of the awns during the operation.

German Pat. No. 915873 therefore suggests to singe the awns and thehusks of the seeds by throwing them in the flame of a burner. Thismethod has the disadvantage that the awn and the husk may be destroyedat once as the heat may burn the caryopsis not only superficially butoften to the extent that it reaches the core thereby sterilizing thegerm.

The problem to overcome is therefore to maintain the grain in apredetermined position during the trimming operation. The problem iseven greater if one considers that, on the one hand, for the sake ofefficiency a multitude of seeds has to be treated simultaneously,whereas on the other hand, the dimensions of each seed are very small.In effect, the problem consists of two parts, namely to provide asteadfast orientation to the grain and to maintain it in thisorientation during the trimming operation.

It has already been suggested to orient the grains of the kind describedabove by placing them in a strong current of air so as to move themtoward a screen whereby the awns act as arrows. In French Pat. No.1,244,464 filed by Monsieur Roger LOISEAU on Sept. 18, 1959, thisorientation method is used to sort grains having an eccentric caryopsissuch as Ray-grass. The inventor has tried to use an analogous method tosolve the problem described above but it was soon noted that no resultscould be expected because, although the grains carried away by the aircurrent assumed a unique orientation, the second part of the problemcould not be solved. In other words, the principle is perfectly soundfor a dynamic process but not for a continuous one.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,750,977 discloses a device for peeling onions having aconveyor comprising a sturdy metallic mesh which causes the onions topass in front of a knife blade while the onions are maintained in asubstantially vertical position by means of a flow of air passingthrough the conveyor. Although this specification suggests orienting theproduct to be treated by means of air under high pressure, it isimpracticable to follow this suggestion for the material in question. Anonion has sufficient weight to put it into a vertical position by meansof gravity but a grain is light and does not allow using high pressure.Its shape does not allow a stable position especially in such a deviceand it would be difficult to feed the product, i.e. the grains, alreadyoriented to the conveyor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a device which utilises a gasat a slight pressure to orient the grains and to place them in cavitiesto maintain them in the oriented position and to protect them during thetrimming operation. Other details and advantages of the invention willbecome clear from the description and the claims which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial schematic representation of a longitudinal sectionof a device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a device according to theinvention using an energized electrical resistance device to remove theawn.

As is clear from FIG. 1 in particular, the device comprises a feeder 1which causes the grains to be trimmed to flow to an upper portion 2a ofa substantially vertical channel member 2 in which the grains fall bygravity toward a conveyor 3 for guiding them to a trimming location 4.The conveyor comprises perforated aveolate plates 3a which are jointedtogether like the links of a chain and are driven by drums or gears 5.

Underneath part of the conveyor 3 there is an evacuation chamber havingair at low pressure blown in by a fan or compressor 7. The flow of airtraverses the perforated plates 3a. The channel is disposed above atleast a portion of the chamber 6 in such a manner that a portion of thepulsating air goes upstream in the channel 2.

At the exit of the feeder 1 and in the upper portion 2a of the channel 2the grains fall freely without exact orientation while their awns areentangled. They meet the flow of ascending air which disentangles,separates and orients them such that in a lower output portion 2b of thechannel 2, on the one hand, they fall down while being restrained andoriented with the awn at the top, but on the other hand, their flow is"fluid". The first requirement of adequate trimming, i.e. steadfastorientation of the grains, is therefore met.

Each plate 3a comprises vertical bars 3b which cross and are disposedabove a wire netting 3c (FIG. 2). Two consecutive bars 3b and the wirenetting at the bottom form a cavity A for receiving one or more grains Gwhich fall down in an oriented fashion from the channel 2 with the awnpointing upwardly. The vertical faces of the bars 3b, on the one hand,maintain the oriented grains in this position and, on the other hand,act as a baffle to avoid destruction by the trimming means describedhereinafter. The height of the bars is such that the caryopsis of thegrain is completely contained in the cavity with the awn B sticking outonly.

Some bars extend downwardly in a collar 3d for engaging the conveyor bymeans of the drums or the gears.

The flow density of the grains which fall onto the conveyor 3 isnevertheless distinctly greater than that of the grains in the cavitiesA in order to achieve filling to a maximum thereof.

To eliminate the grains in excess a jet of air is used which is disposedcross-wise over the conveyor and which terminates in a nozzle 8, andwhich separates them from the conveyor 3 so that they can be recycled.This air jet co-operates with the flow conveyed through the portion ofthe chamber 6 disposed below the channel 2. In this way the excessgrains remains essentially oriented while they are being removed whichprevents their awns from being mixed with grains which have to betrimmed. At a location 4 the aligned grains subsequently face a devicefor destroying the awns thereof which is disposed traversely to theconveyor and in the direction of motion thereof and level with the upperopening of the cavities.

In FIG. 1 the device for destroying the awns is a row of gas burners 9having a quasi-horizontal flame 9a or at the very least a flame which isinclined slightly. The flame can only reach the awn but not thecaryopsis which is protected by the bars 3b.

The gas burners 9 may be substituted for by an electrical resistancedevice, as shown in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, a high resistance wire11 is heated by applying a voltage thereto by means of a switch 12. Wire11 is located immediately above the cavities A in the conveyor 3 andremoves the awns B from the grains G as the conveyor moves towardlocation 10 where the trimmed grain is emptied.

The device described above finds application in trimming of fragilearistate seeds such as grains of grass of the genus bromus.

I claim:
 1. A device for trimming grains each having a caryopsis and anawn projecting therefrom, comprising:a substantially vertical channelmember having a lower portion and an upper portion, said upper portionreceiving said grains which fall freely into said upper portion withoutexact orientation; a conveyor positioned below the lower portion of saidchannel member for movement in a substantially horizontal plane, saidconveyor including a plurality of spaced essentially vertically orientedelements and a substantially horizontal netting located below andtransverse to said elements, said elements and netting defining aplurality of cavities; blowing means for blowing a current of air upwardinto the lower portion of said channel, said current of air orientingsaid falling grains with their awns projecting generally verticallyupward, said grains falling into the cavities in said conveyor withtheir caryopsises contained within said cavities and supported on saidnetting, the awns projecting vertically upward from said cavities; andtrimming means positioned adjacent to and above said conveyor downstreamfrom the lower portion of said channel member, said trimming meansdestroying the awns transported thereto by said conveyor withoutdamaging the caryopsises.
 2. A device according to claim 1, wherein saidconveyor is interposed between the lower portion of said channel memberand said blowing means, the current of air blown upward by said blowingmeans passing through said netting and said cavities into the lowerportion of said channel member.
 3. A device according to claim 1 or 2,wherein the heights of the vertically oriented elements of said conveyorare substantially the same as that of the caryopsises of the grains tobe trimmed, and only the awns of said grains project above saidelements.
 4. A device according to claim 1, wherein said trimming meanscomprises a row of gas burners having a flame directed substantiallyparallel to the surface of said conveyor, said flame being directed suchthat it reaches and destroys only the awns of the grains and not thecaryopsises.
 5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said trimmingmeans comprises an electrically heated resistance wire disposedtransverse to said conveyor, parallel to the surface thereof andadjacent said vertically oriented elements defining said cavities, saidheated resistance wire destroying only the awns of the grains and notthe caryopsises.